High School Mom

I sent my oldest to high school this morning.  She has been quite excited and the day has finally come.   I am officially the mother of a high schooler.  Wow.  You know how you know something is coming and despite what you do to prepare for it, for some reason you never feel fully prepared.  That is how I feel right now.  This day has come, we spent the summer talking about it, shopping, and getting prepared.  Today was it.  Now I sit here moment by moment wondering what she is doing, what she is thinking, how she is feeling.  A typical mother I guess.  Mother of a high schooler.

On a side note we painted her toenails with Zoya Charla last night!! You can't go wrong there.

Sally Hansen Byte

Sally Hansen Byte is from the Hi-Definition line and let me say it is a beauty.  This picture does not do it justice.  In the past I have only used this polish for layering.  I have several HD polishes and they take about 3-4 layers to get a nice opaque finish.  Pictured below is 3 coats of Byte and one coat of Sally Hansen Top Coat.

On a side note this mani was done while I was in the car on my way to PA.  Don't worry, I wasn't driving.  Doing your nails in the car is sooooo hard.  I am proud my mani looks this decent.  Lots of bumps and braking to contend with.

Confetti Moonstruck-- Already?

No doubt I loved the color and application of this polish.  Not the wear though.  It chipped the 2nd day I wore it.  So sad.  All hope wasn't lost though because I used Seche Vite top coat and for some reason that makes all of my polish chip ridiculously.

In need of a quick mani I used this color again because, well because, I love it.  Instead of using the Seche I opted for my OPI and used some OPI drying drops.  Well I am happy.  This is what my mani looked like 5 days in.

Happy, so happy that it was probably just the Seche.

Packaging Hidden Treasure

Recently one of my Twitter pals mention she was having a hard time finding Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure in her area.  I had an extra bottle so I offered to send her one.  I would be quite sad if it broke in transit so I made sure it wasn't.  Here was my packaging process.  Maybe a bit of overkill but hey, I wanted to make sure it got to here in one piece.

A few layers of bubble wrap:

Inserted into small box.  Which happened to be an old box that perfume came in.

Inserted into larger box with lots of newspaper stuffed around it.

Now if that isn't Hidden Treasure then I don't know what is!!!

It arrived in once piece and I believe she enjoyed it for 1 mani at least.  She tweeted that her son flushed it down the toilet with her contact lens case.  Not sure if was able to be salvaged or not.  Yikes!!!

Hiatus, Happy Happy Joy Joy and Other Random Babbling

I started off the month being diligent with my blogging and then fell off the wagon.  These little hiatus are basically when life has got me doing 20 bazillion other things so no time to blog, paint my nails, or do much else.  By the time I have time to myself it is usually enough time to keel over and get a few winks of sleep.  Anyhow, thanks for still coming around and checking me out.  I love getting comments as well as reading your blogs.

On to other stuff I guess!

Well I was pretty happy when I got $2.19 a gallon for Premium Unleaded.   Lookie here, lookie here!!! $1.87 (really $1.88 but whatever).  I have a gas guzzling SUV.  I am happy.  Crazy enough to stand there and take a picture.  It's the small things.

 

Life has been crazy this summer.  With the kids home my attention has be devoted to them.  They are fun kids to be around.  School starts Tuesday so hopefully my blogging will pick back up again.  It is tough to balance work, family, and time to yourself.  It is the time to yourself that always ends up with the short straw.  Oh well.  No complaints though.  My daughter and I picked up sewing in June so my attention has also been devoted to that.  I love it!!  We started another blog about it but haven't been doing the greatest job keeping it up to date.  I am about to go do that after this.  

I have so many pictures in my camera it is a crying shame.  I want to blog about all of them but when will I find the time.

Purple Heart is coming on Friday.  I have packed up 12 bags of clothes and shoes.  Still not done either.  At least I am getting rid of it and someone who can use it will.  Plus I need to make space for all of my new clothes that I am making for myself.

I am feeling bad because that blood donation I couldn't do, I still haven't gone back to donate. I am completely off schedule.  Bummer.  I have to get back on track with that.  A fellow blogger actually  posted about getting a blood donation.  It does make you feel good to know that you are helping someone, somewhere.  Actually, it makes me feel AWESOME!!

The family went to Hershey Park earlier this summer, I am getting to old for those roller coasters.  I am....wait for it....35 years old although my WiiFit told me I was 43 last night.  In my defense we had added the WiiFit plus and I got some fitness test that I had never done before.

Well I could go on and on.  I feel like I have been gone forever.  I know it hasn' t really been that long but I do miss blogging at least once or twice a week.  Hopefully once I get back on a normal schedule with the kids being back in school I'll get my flow again.

Family Game Nights? Bamboozle Anyone!!

In my family we love to play games.  Getting everyone to play can be a challenge at times but even if it is only 2 of playing we still have fun.  Growing up I would ask my sisters to play games with me all the time.  There were some times when they said yes but of course I remember the times they said no.  That left me to playing games by myself a lot.  Anything from I-DeClare War to Monopoly I would sit and play alone (don't judge me).

We had some family over and pulled an old game out the woodwoork.  Actually the last time I played this game my kids weren't even old enough to play yet.  This game will bring out the competition in everyone.  A lot of laughs and fun to be had.  

 

Objective:  Be first to score required points.

Playing: Two teams try to guess the words the other team came up with for them. Shake up the dice, see what the letters are, make words that start with those letters.  A timer runs while each team makes their list of words.  That is the amount of time the other team will have to guess the words.  The longer it takes for you to make the words, the longer the other team gets to guess them. The clue giver from each team swaps lists.  The clue giver then has to give clues so their team can guess the words on the list. (Not the best description but hopefully you get the gist)

"WHAT" , "HURRY UP", "UMMMMMMM", "COME ON YOU KNOW THIS" always leads to lots of laughs and fun for everyone.  As fun as it is, it gets quite competitive.  

What are your favorites for Family Game Night?

It Takes C-C-Courage To Show These Nubbins

I have had this polish for a while now and realized I have never done it as a mani.  If I am not mistaken I have used it for a pedi and liked it very much.  Have you noticed I don't show pedi pics on my blog.  That is to spare you dear readers.  My feet aren't horrendous but not great enough to share pics of either.

This is not new so most of you have probably seen China Glaze C-C-Courage before but just in case you haven't, here it is.  You see how short my nails are.   I have no idea when they all broke but over the weekend I found myself filing them constantly because they kept breaking.  Oh, well, a fresh start is always good.

Purple, glitter goodness.  I am glad pulled this one back out of the stash.

Confetti Moonstruck

Confetti polishes have popped up a CVS's and therefore all over nail blogs too.  Who am I not to give a $2.00 polish a chance.  Confetti Moonstruck is a grayish color with hints of purple and some brown.  I picked it because I can honestly say I have NOTHING in my collection close to this shade.

"Well, well, well Ms. Two Dollar Polish.  Not bad, not bad at all."  Appication was easy as pie.  No issue with streakiness, runiness, thickness.  No problem at all.  Since this is only the first day I have worn it I can't attest to how well it will wear.  Hopefully I won't be seeing chips tomorrow but I am happy to say the Moonstruck is a one coat wonder for now.

A few pics (one coat Moonstruck, one coat Seche Vite top coat):

outside

inside

flash

What is not to love

Interesting Find- LACROSS Nail Cleaning Sponges

I don't know if these are old, old, old news but I came across them in Big Lots the other day.  Since I have never seen them before it is new to me but since it WAS in Big Lots I know I am somewhat late.  For 50 cents a pack I grabbed a couple to give them a shot.  It is like a Q-tip on one end and a makeup sponge on the other.

Anyone ever seen or tried these before?

Diamond Cosmetics Pelican Peak Purple

Purples.  I have a thing for them but surprisingly enough I don't have a ton of them.  When I received my winnings  in the mail from ABOP I was happy to have a new purple for my collection.  Diamond Cosmetics hit a homerun with Pelican Peak Purple as far as I am concerned.  I will call it a pastel purple but a darker pastel, if that makes sense.  Just look at how pretty it is and to top it off if you get a good amount of polish on the brush this is a one coater.  My pinky nail which I always do first had a few streaks but I am always thinking I have to much polish so removed a lot of the excess from the brush.  Here is 2 coats of Pelican Peak Purple.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥LOVE♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Isn't she a beauty? No question about it.

Nakey Nails and Cuticle Help

After hearing great reviews of Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Balm I hemmend and hawed and finally picked some up.  My hope is that it will help alleviate some of the horrendous hangnails that you have to see pictures of time and time again.  I started using it at the beginning of this month so I haven't seen anything tremendous yet.  I do try to put it on at night but admittedly sometimes forget so I am trying to use it throught the day as well. After one month we shall see what kind of difference it makes.

Naked Nails (gasp!!)

I really hope this works because I despise hangnails.

Claire's Neon Burst

Wow, can you say bright.  I can honestly say I don't think I have ever worn a color this bright.  The funny thing is the pictures don't even show how bright it really is.  The downside to all this brightness is it took about 7 coats to get it completely opaque but it dries really fast so.  I did throw a coat of Wet N Wild White Creme on my index and ring finger to determine if the number of coats it would take was different.  Maybe by one coat so I would just rather not do it since the Wet N Wild seems to take a while to dry.  You can tell the diffence in the photo but I couldn't see as much of a difference in real life.

After doing this I thought it needed to be jazzed up a bit.  Really?  A color this bright need more attention brought to it!!  Why of course.  Why not set these fingertips ablaze.  With a little help from BundleMonster plate BM12 and Konad Special Polish in Red  I think I got a fiery fingernail.

This mani was a little over the top for me so it didn't even last a whole day.  It was just something fun to do something out of my ordinary picks.

Mermaid to Order or Lagoon

As soon as I got Sally Hansen Lagoon in the mail I knew it looked like something I already had.  Ah ha, Sephora by OPI Mermaid to Order.  Here a few pics of them in the bottle and a few pics in different lighting on the nails.

Can you tell which is which?  Do you see any subtle differences.  I don't.  Are you wondering which nail has which polish?

Here ya go!!!

Again pardon my cuticles, I have gotten something that will hopefully help them.

Bummed - Low Iron Means No Blood Donation

As you may have read in previous posts I am all for making sure those who can donate blood do so. Yesterday when I went to do my donation they told me I couldn't. Yep, my iron count was to low. In order to donate you have to have a hemoglobin level of 12.5 g/dL. My count was only 12.3. Waaaaa, I want to cry. They allow you to try twice and both times it was 12.3. This has actually happened before but when they did my second prick to get my level I was where I needed to be to donate.

Boooo, to me. I want to cry. For some reason I feel really bad. The nurse told me there are a number of reasons that can cause it but I can try again in 24 hours. I think I will try to make sure I eat really healthy this week and try again next Monday.

So what can I do. They gave me a list advising me to increase my intake of high iron foods. I think I see where I went wrong.   Having been on vacation last week I wasn't eating the greatest but was taking an iron supplement. Obviously not enough.

Wish me luck for next week. Now all I have to do is find a place.

Oh, and they were really nice. They let me take a snack and gave me some flip flops anyway.  I am pretty sure for the month of August if you donate you get a pair of flip flops.  The flip flops are pretty cool too. If you walk in the sand it will leave an imprint that says Give Blood. Neat!!

Ooops..the flip flop is upside down. You get the idea.  GIVE BLOOD.

Ruby Kisses Skittles

I got these polishes quite some time ago at a local beauty supply store and hadn't tried them yet.  Why not try them all at once!!  Actually, I was initially was trying to pick which color I wanted to do my full mani with but I liked them all so ended up just doing just repeating the pattern across all my nails.

The brand is Ruby Kisses which I have not seen often on nail blogs. These polishes are thin but manageable to use. Each photo is 3 coats of polish and no top coat. Another great thing is that this polish dries pretty fast so three coats takes no time.

Beware...lots of pics.

Silver Bling

Steel Magnolia

Twinkling Mauve

Purplelicious


Flash

No Flash

What do you think?  I like them a lot, lot, lot!!!  Next time I swing by that beauty supply I will be picking up some more.  My faves are the Purplelicious and Steel Magnolia.